Graph Search by Facebook was a feature that was launched last January with pre-listing offers. As soon as the feature was enabled (to those who signed up), many expert marketers noticed that keyword data was not available. In fact, this wasn’t discovered until a more extensive search showed that passing keyword data was found within the feature’s referral strings.

Thus instead of the Facebook Search box that requires you to type in a name, you are given options on what to include in your search. For instance you could have a combination like this: Friends, Photos of Friends, Photos I’ve Liked Before, Games, Restaurants, Music, and the Tour Guide. You could even be more specific when customizing your search. For example, you could have friends who live in Sydney or people you’ve worked with before in so-and-so company. You can even find former classmates from college simply by adding a search for graduates 2002 from University of Texas. And if that isn’t nifty enough, there’s more. If Facebook can’t find it, it turns to Bing which is its web search partner so you get the power of 2 major websites working to help you find whatever it is you need.

Wow! Amazing, right? Now think about how you can use this to take your business to the next level. The possibilities are endless if you are targeting a certain market.

Here are ways to do just that:

Don’t Go Keyword-Crazy With Your Business Name

While keywords are critical to bringing traffic to your online business site, you can’t force too many keywords in your business name. It would be far better to be remembered than to sound like a cacophony of rhyming words. Besides, having a long business name makes it harder to market the business. For example did you know that Yahoo! is an acronym that stands for Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle?  

At the same time keep in mind that you can’t be too vague about your business or sound like someone else’s business. One tip you might want to remember is that the first word in a business name is important for search.

Be Informative about Your Business

Don’t hold back on letting people know who and what your business is all about. Be proud to talk about your product, business history, mission, and most important – your contact details.

Work With Other Facebook Features

Facebook allows you to have your own URL. Go ahead and create it! Just make sure you add your business name. It will work well to get your brand out there especially for those who go through URL names before clicking on a link. It will also protect you from copyright infringement.

Find New Markets

With the Facebook Graph Search you have this additional tool to search for new markets starting with people you may have lost contact with over the years. You don’t have to market your business to them right away and simply start by getting connected. As you get reacquainted, you might find a way to slip in a few juicy tidbits about your product. It may be a traditional way of marketing and networking but it is very effective.

Get People To Find You

You don’t have to do all the searching. You can create a business Facebook Page that’s appealing, visit-worthy, and easy to navigate. Here are a few tips on how to dress your Facebook:

• Share stories, apps, photos, videos that are relevant to your business product
•  Create a Timeline that is engaging and will want to make visitors intrigued enough to find out more about your business
• Push out offers and interesting mini games like a personality survey or business-related information

Finally, one of the most important aspects about being on Facebook for business is to be responsive and engaging. Follow these tips and you’ve got a greater chance of drawing in more business through Facebook.

Join us in our process to revamp the marketing for Tropic Tours in St. Thomas, USVI.

Wondering why your Facebook fan page is not active or growing?

Creating the Social Media Business pages is the first step in developing a social media program for your business. However, what should you be doing to increase your fan base and actually create sales?

There’s really no simple answer to this very important question. However, there are some simple things you can do to support your efforts.

Posts

People like your page because you have created an open invitation to join your network. Now that they are there, it is your goal to create posts that generate questions or comments. Here are some things to keep in mind:

Do not over think what you want to say. Make it short and sweet. It is very true that a picture says a thousand words. Sometimes a simple picture with a one word caption will get more likes or comments than a long worded post.

People did not join your network to be sold. They joined because you have something they are interested in. A good posting strategy should rotate relevant content about your industry and then every so often you post something specific about your product or services. The goal should be to become a resources by posting information that is important for people looking for your products.

For example: If you are a hotel, you should post information about what’s happening in your area, travel tips, great air fare deals, pictures of different areas of the hotel, etc… And every now and then you thrown in a post to drive traffic to the hotels specials and promotions section of the website.

Monitoring

Now that you have invited people to your network, you need to keep an eye on the page to see what people are posting and what they are saying. Social Media has given consumers a voice. people are starting to realize that they can get a quicker answer if they post a question on a business page rather then calling and getting transferred all over the place.

Unfortunately social media is not immune to spam and people who use bad practices to promote their business. Deleting these types of posts will ensure that your fans are not effected and that your page always looks relevant.

Responding

Again, you have invited people to join your network. And now they expect a response to the questions they have. Responding in a timely basis will create customer loyalty and will give your social media platforms a personality.

There are some posts that do not warrant a response. As we all know, there are people out there you just can not please. And the reality is that even if you do not have social media platforms set up, people are still talking bad about your business somewhere. Now when it comes to negative posts, you need to decide if you should address the problem or delete the posts. However, deleting the post does not alleviate the problem if in fact it is a legitimate situation. A better solution would be to acknowledge the post and then send a message directly to the person outside of the network.

Keep in mind that you never know who the person is or is connected to. The person may be the one that can help you if you address the problem or the person who bad mouths you to their network which can include a potential customer.

Creating  Conversations

An actively engaging page has many benefits. From friends of fans seeing and joining the conversation to developing a loyal following. Your social media platforms should have some sort of personality that fans can relate to. People are engage by comments, pictures and other content shared on the network. Creating an ongoing conversation can help you gather market intelligence as well as open up sales and marketing opportunities.

If you post a picture and someone comments and say “Wish I was there”, reply by asking “Wish you were here too. Where are you and what’s the weather like”. A comment and question will get them to respond. And from there you have already built some sort of relationship with that person. Now you can be strategic and control the conversation. Again, not always selling or pushing your business. Building a relationship.

A page with a strong loyal following is a page that is always active. And that is what you want in order to get your fans to support your brand.

Do you have a link on your website to a PDF of your brochure or restaurant menu’s?

With the large amount of content available on the internet, consumers are now taking the time to search various resources to gather information. The goal is to capture their attention with innovative tools that increase engagement. The more time they spend on your site or social media platforms, the more opportunity you have to close a sale.

The e-viewer applications bring any print media to life with interactive capabilities and links. Viewers are able to browse through the pages and click on live links that will take them on a path that you create.

The e-viewer can be used on a several online media platforms:

• Website

• Newletter
• Facebook Fan Page Tab
• Email signature
• Business Presentations
• Proposal

With a little creative thinking and strategic planning, your e-viewer can become a strong part of your marketing efforts.

Have you Not tried Flava Puff???

Flava Puff offers a variety of tasty snacks. Their story is one of a small start- up by two friends that started with packaging Cotton Candy to a company now offers, cotton candy, popcorn, cheese balls, oncion rings and more. They even offer a dog treat names “Buddy Luv” Treats. You may have see their  products can be find in some of the major convenience stores or sports venues.

They offer a few special programs that have proven to be very successufl. Their Private Label program provides companies the ability to sell their products under their own label. And their Fundraising program gives organizations or schools with a great way to raise funds.

The recently launched a shopping cart on their website that features variety of tasty snacks.

website: www.flavapuff.com

Phone:(888) 300-0024

Are you using QR Codes to promote your business?

QR Codes came into the scene a few years ago and have made a huge impact in traditional advertising. How else can you place an ad and have viewers connect directly with your website, social media platforms or social media channels?

What are QR Codes?

As described by Wikipedia:

QR Code (abbreviated from Quick Response Code) is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) first designed for the automotive industry. More recently, the system has become popular outside the industry due to its fast readability and large storage capacity compared to standard UPC barcodes. The code consists of black modules (square dots) arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be made up of four standardized kinds (“modes”) of data (numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary, Kanji), or through supported extensions, virtually any kind of data.

Simply put:

Codes that can be scanned by any smartphone that will direct scanners to a URL, Phone Number, text or SMS.

How they work:

There are several applications that can be downloaded on smartphones and tables that will allow scanning capabilities. All you have to do is go to your devices application store and download the free QR Code Reader Application.

Once you have the QR Code reader downloaded, you are ready to go. Simple open your application and scan the QR Code as shown in the image below:

So, now it’s just a matter of thinking outside the box and putting the QR Codes to work for your business. Creating customized codes and landing pages can be engaging and can help drive traffic.

Here are some sample of where they can be used:

The big question is who is using QR Codes?

You can now see QR Codes being used in all avenues of marketing. If you look through any major publication you will see QR Codes being used to create interactive engagement.

Here’s an interesting article by the NY Times about QR Codes: Where’s the Reception? Scan This…

So, if you have not seen or are using QR Codes, then why not be a leader in your industry. Introducing QR Codes and the ease to share traffic will set our business apart from your competitors. The reality is that you through marketing, you can introduce new technology and educate people on how to make sharing easier.

Can Social Media Help Your Business???   That question continues to be debated in many business circles. To us, the answer is simple. YES.  Social Media can help your business. The reality is that the world has changed, and with that so has the way people communicate and make decisions.

The introduction of the World Wide Web provided users with the ability to educate themselves before making decisions.  Then came the birth of technology that allowed business to incorporate programs to sell products and  collect payments online on a secure platform.  This shift in business impacted the World in an incredible way that has still not yet reached its full potential.

Using the Travel Industry as an example, years ago you could find a travel agency on almost every block.  For most people nowadays  you have to search online plus be willing to drive a distance to find your nearest travel agency.  In order to survive, agencies had to embrace change or develop a strategy to continue to do business in a time where people are making reservations through online operators or suppliers directly.

Social Media now provides an additional resource in the decision process. Consumers are using these platforms to not only research products or services but, also to share information. Not sure what you think of a product? Post on Facebook and let others share their experience. So as a business, where do you fit in???

Our concept is simple, Social Media works for all industries and business big or small. If you do any kind of marketing, then Social Media can contribute to your efforts.  It’s just a matter of changing the way you approach marketing.

As far as social media being used for business, the reality is that people are doing business on social media very successfully. It’s a matter of creating a strategy that incorporates business with a social spin. Social media does not work for companies using the platforms just to sell products, however, building a network of people that are interested in that product is the key.  Social media helps develop brand loyalty and awareness as well as sales opportunities.

Here are some things to get your motors running:

Search Engine Optimization: Google, Bing and Yahoo have all seen the value for business on social media platforms.  This helps to explain why they have incorporated social into their search.  They would not incorporate these social signals if they did not see a value.  Having a strong social media presence accompanied by social engagement is now proving to be a big part of improving your organic Search.

Here’s a sample of what we call the Social Internet. Being in as many places as possible so that your business is integrated into multiple areas of search:

Word of Mouth: Whether your a B2B or B2C it is important for people to know that your product is available.  We believe that word of mouth has now gone social.  Why tell me about your greatest deal and hope that I verbally tell my friend? You can easily post it on my network where 1000′s of people can see it.  We can all agree that people do not communicate like they use to, but that is simply part of the technological era we live in and we can not change the movement. I use email, text, Facebook message, Google Plus message, etc… to engage with my friends and family. Why?  Because it’s easy and that’s the way they choose to communicate with me. I can either embrace the change or lose touch with them and the world. By the way, I speak to my parent on the phone every now and then, however, they enjoy being able to see real time pictures.

Pull vs. Push: Have you heard this term? Push Marketing is where companies are using tools like email, newspaper magazines and telemarketing to get their product in front of the consumer. Pull Marketing is when consumers decide when and how they want to get information on a specific product. Social Media is very much in the Pull marketing category. The delivery of your information goes to a network of people that have said yes, send me your information.  I use a vanity email for companies that ask for my email address an check that email about once a month.  Think I’m the only one?  I assure you this is the case with many databases being used.

Loyalty: Are you confident of your business or brand?  Followers and fans usually consist of people that have used or purchased your products or services.  Providing information and developing engagement gives your business a personality.  A good social media strategy can create a strong relationship and foundation that can be helpful when you need action.

Customer Service: The sharing aspect of social media has forced companies to be on their toes.  Consumers now have a voice where they can express their opinions in to thousands of people with a click of the mouse.  Avoiding social media will not stop consumers from sharing their thoughts about your business, there’s thousands of social media platforms where people are probably already talking about your business resulting in other people making buying decisions based on what people are saying about you. So why not be there to promote and protect your brand?

Our first social media client was very hesitant do to the fact that they were concerned about customers posting negative information about their products.  To their surprise, a quick search on Facebook found that there was a group created with over 100 followers praising their products.  These followers became the base of a very loyal network of people who appreciate the fact that now they are able to speak directly to the brand.

And it is very important to know that deleting negative comments is not always the right approach. If people are not happy with your product or services, then there’s obviously something wrong.  It’s important to acknowledge the problem and respond to the client to take the conversation off line.

In some cases, fans will do all the work for you. We have seen negative comments posted and within minutes, loyal fans came to the rescue and dismissed the comment.  Again, loyalty has it’s benefits.

As I mentioned earlier, every business can benefit from social media.  Here’s a great article on the topic “Should Every Business Invest in Social Media?”

We are always up to a challenge, are you stuck and can not figure out how to get started using Social Media? Let us know and we’ll get you started in the right direction….